DC surprised me by releasing a preview of Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion #1 well before the scheduled release date of the first issue. Unfortunately, I have little good to say about what I’ve seen.

First, I don’t like the logo. It’s just not appealing to me. The Lost Army logo was neat because it was in line with modern Green Lantern sensibilities, but also recalling of the classic 1980s Green Lantern Corps logo from the Steve Englehart run.

Second, I’m seeing the price is $3.99 when it was originally solicited at $2.99. I’m not happy about that, and it’s another sign of DC’s financial desperation.

Third, Simon Baz is present. I really don’t like that character. If DC would like to use him, I’d prefer it be in a book I have no interest in reading, especially one that does not feature John Stewart. Man, my luck is so rotten sometimes.

Fourth, while there is not much to go on, in this preview John Stewart stands in a crowd not doing anything while other Earth Lanterns take on more dominant roles, even if small. This doesn’t stimulate me and is frighteningly evocative of the Geoff Johns era of Green Lantern, especially with Ethan Van Sciver on art.

Fifth, I hope there is a very good reason why the Lanterns are standing around in what appears to be the wild, because John Stewart and Mogo did build a city for them to inhabit on that planet. This is a point of concern for me because it makes me wonder if the writer bothered to read the previous runs. If not, then I’m concerned.

About that last point; in the recent past, I’ve seen videos of Dan DiDio talking about how he wants to develop essential stories and beats for DC Comics characters. Let me tell you something, DC. If the writers you employ do not reference and build upon moments in the characters’ pasts, there will be nothing essential for these characters. If something is immediately forgotten, how can it be essential? John Stewart building a city on Mogo should be pretty essential, but now I’m worried that the city he built has mysteriously disappeared with no acknowledgment. John Stewart being the first male Star Sapphire should be pretty essential, as well, but post Van Jensen’s Green Lantern Corps run, there has been absolutely no reference of it even happening.

It seems the only thing the writers and editors can and will consistently reference from John Stewart’s history is that a planet was destroyed due to his incompetence. I fear DC may be doing something wrong.

It may seem like I’m jumping the gun on many of these points, but I’m not. DC has put out content for people to evaluate and I’m just giving my opinion on what I’m seeing. If I wind up having gotten the wrong impression about things, then great! We’ll see when the series releases in January. Check out the link below for the preview:

PREVIEW: GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EDGE OF OBLIVION #1

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The solicitation for Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion #3 has arrived. I don’t have too much to say about this since we’ve already seen the cover art, and nothing in the solicitation text sounds especially notable. We get a better look at the cover this time with a higher quality image, and that gives me a better impression of the piece. I noticed that John Stewart’s eyes aren’t colored in green this time around. That’s always disappointing for me since the unnatural green colored eyes are one of his main identifying features. The art is very competent, though. Take a look at it again below and also the solicitation text.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS: EDGE OF OBLIVION #3
Written by TOM TAYLOR
Art and cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER
On sale MARCH 9 • 32 pg, FC, 3 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
Time is running out! The Corps is pulled in two directions as they struggle to solve who is killing the survivors and find a way out of this dying universe. Will they stand together—or die stranded and splintered?!

Pick this one up in March.

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DC Comics has released art from the upcoming series Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion. Take a look at these pieces by artist Ethan Van Sciver below:

And here are some art pieces that Van Sciver released himself over Twitter:

While the art is certainly filled with detail, and displays a lot of intensity, it doesn’t really floor me the way I was when I first saw Bernard Chang’s art for Green Lantern Corps, or Jesus Saiz’s art for Lost Army. Is it because I’ve seen Van Sciver depict these characters before, or is it because I don’t like his depiction as much? It’s both. Ethan Van Sciver is a really great artist, but I prefer the style of Jesus Saiz and Bernard Chang, which I find more beautiful, colorful, and less overly “badass” and grave.

The lines, coloring, and constant screams and grimaces seen in these recent images display a sense of extreme intensity that I’m not looking for in Green Lantern right now, as opposed to some other flavors, like Chang and Maiolo’s fun, beautifully adventurous vibe, and Saiz’s, breathtaking swirling colors and emotive characters. Van Sciver’s character’s certainly emote, but, in these images at least, it’s overly dramatic and lacks the subtlety, grace, and natural element of Saiz’s work. That said, none of those artists seem to have the clout and following Van Sciver does, especially among Green Lantern fandom, so my own opinion aside, Van Sciver may draw more interest to Edge of Oblivion than Saiz did for Lost Army… or maybe not.

We don’t really live in the age of artists like we do writers. For example, commercially, Ivan Reis did not seem to anchor the Cyborg title the way I believe DC was hoping for. It could be that Edge of Oblivion may wind up at the same level Lost Army did, sales wise, regardless of Van Sciver. I think DC is aware of that, but they’re giving hope a shot, especially since, according to certain reports, they desperately need the money.

Also, I don’t know if relying on the past is really the way to go here. We’re seeing Ivan Reis and Van Sciver resurface, as if DC was thinking, “Well, these guys worked before, let’s get them again.” However, they worked ten years ago for Hal Jordan related products written by Geoff Johns. Now it’s now, and they’re coming into John Stewart’s world, which is a different world with a different fandom. It’s not the same time or the same thing, so I’m not sure if we should expect the same results.

Another thing I can’t help but notice is the prominence of Guy Gardner in these images. I hope the focus of the story stays strongly on John Stewart. I also do not care for the addition of Simon Baz. This is the least excited I’ve been for a new John Stewart series since Tomasi and Pasarin started Green Lantern Corps in the New 52, and that’s because it doesn’t really look better or even as good to me than what we had before, and even before that.

All this said, I’m looking forward to Edge of Oblivion, and I really hope it does well, but I find the look of this book grim, dark (thematically and in its color palette), and dire, and while I don’t expect a Sunday picnic, that’s not what I’m looking for in Green Lantern. I don’t like that it looks like characters like Arisia and Kilowog may take backseats to Guy and maybe Baz.

speaking of Arisia, I think she looks too masculine, with her even shorter haircut, harder face, and more muscled body. This type of thing appeared in Ivan Reis’ variant cover for issue #1 of Edge of Oblivion (as did the grimaces and overly dark color palette). I believe Arisia is supposed to be attractive, but I’m not too attracted to muscly women with hard faces. I understand these are super hero comics, and hyper masculinity is often a part of them, but I’d prefer if that didn’t pour over to the female characters. So, ultimately, while the art I’ve seen for Edge of Oblivion without a doubt displays a ton of skill, stylistically, it’s not the flavor I’m looking for, but we’ll see if my opinion changes when the book is released, which is entirely possible.

Be sure to pick up Green Lantern Corps: Edge of Oblivion #1 this coming January.

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